Over the past 10 years there have been several reports concerned with the lack of sufficient basic research in the clinical departments. Research training in reproduction is targeted as one of five needed Program areas within the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. It is our goal, through this Training Program is to recruit qualified Ph.D. scientists to undergo postdoctoral training in Reproductive Science and to facilitate their career development and retention in this field. The long-term objective of this application is to take advantage of the significant resources and experience within the Department of OB/GYN to train and promote the development of future leaders in the reproductive sciences with dual strengths in basic and clinical research. Our specific aim in this program is to select and recruit talented, postdoctoral fellows and offer a research training position in the laboratory of a highly qualified mentor. The research program is built upon collaborative efforts among nine faculty mentors in three subgroups: molecular reproductive endocrinology, biology and maternal-fetal interactions, and gynecologic oncology. Thus, this highly structured Program will allow trainees the opportunity to mature as a multi-faceted reproductive scientist in a superb scientific setting at Washington University. Trainees will actively participate in ongoing research in a laboratory under the mentor's supervision. In addition, resources of the department and the medical campus are incorporated in this Program as career development tools for trainees, such as grant and manuscript writing and career development within the collaborative efforts of mentors highly committed to and experienced in postdoctoral training. The newly founded Office of Post Graduate Affairs at Washington University School of Medicine also provides excellent support and resources to these individuals. Our active Minority Recruitment plan covers detailed strategies and outlines our rigorous efforts at this important component. If successful in our aim, this Program will produce well-trained and competitive reproductive scientists who will pursue clinical, evidence-based questions with a solid, basic science-derived approach.